The nation’s commercial casinos continued their slow-but-steady comeback from the recession last year, with revenues up 3 percent nationwide at $35.6 billion and jobs holding nearly steady, according to a report released Wednesday.

The American Gaming Association’s annual report noted the nation’s 492 non-Indian casinos or other legal gambling halls paid $7.9 billion in taxes to state and local governments, a 4.5 percent increase over 2010.

The casinos provided more than 339,000 jobs, a decline of less than half of 1 percent from a year earlier. And casino workers saw their pay decline by 3 percent last year, to $12.9 billion in wages, benefits and tips.

“While it may be slow, the recovery of the national commercial casino industry is well under way,” said Frank Fahrenkopf Jr., the AGA’s president. “The state of the industry is good; the prospects for its future are solid.”

The report also found that more than a quarter of casino patrons surveyed said they rarely or never gamble, indicating that casinos are doing a better job of offering nongambling attractions such as fine restaurants, spas, nightclubs and big-name entertainment.

Thirteen of the 22 states with casinos had gaming tax increases. Others, including Maryland, Kansas and New York, added new properties.

The AGA’s figures do not include Indian casinos, which took in $24.9 billion in 2010, the last year for which figures are available according to the National Indian Gaming Commission.

More details

• Las Vegas remains the nation’s largest casino market, with more than $6 billion in revenue last year.

• Atlantic City had the biggest revenue drop at 7 percent. Its casinos took in $3.3 billion, down from $5.2 billion in 2006, when the first of Pennsylvania’s casinos opened and began siphoning off business from New Jersey. Atlantic City has lost its perch as the nation’s second-largest gambling market to Pennsylvania, although the AGA report treats Pennsylvania as a series of smaller independent markets.

• Pennsylvania’s casinos paid the most taxes in the nation at $1.45 billion; Kansas paid the least at $13 million. Thirteen states saw increases in the amount of tax revenue they paid to governments last year.

• Consumer spending on casino gaming rose 2.9 percent to $10.7 billion in Nevada, the largest U.S. market, even as jobs held roughly steady at 174,381. The spending fell 7 percent to $3.3 billion in New Jersey, the second-largest market, and casino jobs declined by nearly 4 percent to 32,823.

• Almost 60 million people, or more than one-quarter of the nation’s adult population (27 percent) visited a casino in 2011, according to the survey, and the only form of gambling that was more popular was the lottery. More than a quarter of those visitors didn’t gamble, a reflection of increasing noncasino activities at resorts such as restaurants and shows.

• Almost half of those surveyed said they set a budget of less than $100 for themselves when they went to a casino, with another 23 percent limiting themselves to under $200.

• Slot machines and video poker were the favorite forms of casino gambling nationwide, with 53 percent of the AGA’s survey respondents choosing it first. Blackjack was second at 23 percent, followed by poker (7 percent), and craps and roulette (3 percent each). There are more than 837,000 slot machines in 39 states, with Nevada (183,319), California (67,601) and Oklahoma (65,400) having the most.